“To me, the doctors and in particular the midwives missed obvious signs that Shauni was seriously ill. I know there’s nothing I can do to get her back but I can at least fight for justice for her.”

She added: “I hate to say this, but right at the start I didn’t want Macie. I just wanted my Shauni back.

“It’s really tough to admit, but I left hospital with Shauni’s personal things and a baby I had no feelings for.

“I’ve grown to love Macie unconditionally. She’s a great wee kid who would have made her mum very proud. But the early days were almost too painful to bear.”

Nicola McKindly with Macie (Image: Richard Frew)

Nicola said Shauni was studying child care at college and dreamed of working at a nursery.

She added: “Her smile lit up the room and she had dozens of friends who all loved her dearly.

“She was my world and meant everything to me and her dad. We did everything together.”

Shauni had a fatal heart attack in intensive care at Ninewells in December 2011 as Nicola and her dad Stewart Derrick waited outside.

Days earlier, she had endured a traumatic labour. Macie became trapped during delivery and Shauni had to have an emergency Caesarean.

Despite all she had been through, Shauni was in good spirits after the birth and looking forward to eating pizza when she got home with Macie.

But she had contracted an infection which triggered sepsis, a chronic inflammation which can cause organ failure.

It took over her body and doctors fought in vain to save her. And according to a damning report health chiefs ordered after the tragedy, staff failed to notice how serious her condition was.

Professor Tracy Humphrey of NHS Grampian, who wrote the report, said: “Signs of infection/sepsis were not recognised or appropriately managed during labour, and there were unnecessary delays in her transfer to the obstetric labour ward.

“In the post-birth period, there continued to be a lack of recognition that Shauni was suffering significant sepsis and not responding to treatment.

“There was hesitation in involving the wider health care team and this is likely to have led to a delay in surgical intervention.”

NHS Tayside have yet to apologise or fully explain what happened. The minutes of an emotional meeting in October 2012 reveal that consultant Dr Anthony Nicoll told the family: “Sadly, we just don’t know. Something sudden happened that we can’t fully explain.”

Shauni in hospital the day after she gave birth to Macie.

Lawyers for Nicola are waiting for more specialist reports on Shauni’s care before proceeding with the lawsuit.

Nicola, who has a younger daughter Emily, 15, has also met prosecutors, and a decision will be made soon on whether to launch a public inquiry.

Any probe would focus on why Shauni wasn’t tested for infection when she was admitted, why no action was taken after midwives noticed an odd smell from her amniotic fluid, why she was allowed to remain in labour for so long before being given a Caesarean and the time the C-section took to complete.

Nicola is determined to keep the promise she has made to Shauni, time and again, at her graveside at Dundee’s Birkhill Cemetery.

She told us tearfully: “That cemetery is like my second home.

“We’ve put lights round Shauni’s grave and I try to go when it’s dark because you can see them twinkling from a long way off. It helps lift my spirits.

“I keep telling Shauni I’l never stop fighting for justice for her and get some answers as to why she died. It will never bring her back but it may help me get some closure– and stop something like this happening to another family.”

NHS Tayside said: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment.”

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